"Come Follow Me - For Individuals & Families" Helps

There are a lot of changes coming in the church in 2019!  Exciting changes!  At the very end of our Oct. 2018 General Conference, Pres. Nelson said this:

"The new home-centered, Church-supported integrated curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining."

I don't know about you, but I could really use those promises and blessings!  I'm ready and willing to do my part and am so grateful for the many, many resources The Church and others have made available to us to help us.

Here's a list of some of the things our family will be doing and free resources that we'll be using as we move forward in our family-centered, Church-supported learning.


LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST BIBLE VIDEOS

The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos are beautiful!  We have visual learners in our family and it is great to read a story from the Bible and then watch the video of the story.  This way we can really SEE what happened.  I love these videos!

The videos can be found here on lds.org and are also on the Library app on your phone at Library: Videos: Bible Videos

NEW TESTAMENT VIDEOS FOR CHILDREN

For younger children, there are illustrated Bible videos, found here.  These make a great overview version to reinforce the stories told.  

COLORING PAGES

I'm a firm believer that your hands can be busy and you can still be listening.  Especially for children.  Lds.org has an entire page of coloring sheets taken from the Friend magazine over the years that you can print and have available for little people to color while your family is reading the scriptures.  You can find them here.  If you scroll down the page about half way, there is an entire section of pictures of Christ.  You can also just draw pictures or write down important words from the reading while you listen.

NEW TESTAMENT ARTWORK

The Gospel Art Book is a must have for every home.  You probably already have it!  You can also find all the artwork online here.  I'm a visual learner.  If you show  me a picture of something, I'll remember it forever.  Read something to me and it's in one ear and right out the other, so I'm so grateful to have beautiful artwork to look at while reading the scriptures to help it stick in my brain better!





LDS SCRIPTURE CITATION INDEX


I LOVE this app on my phone!  You can look up scriptures and see which General Conference talks through the ages referenced it.  Being able to read what the general authorities have said about certain scriptures I'm studying has really upped the impact of my scripture study. 

"PONDERIZE"

In the Oct. 2015 General Conference, Elder Devin G. Durrant taught us a great tool for making the scriptures more meaningful in our lives.   You can read the whole talk here.    He taught us two simple steps:

1 - choose a verse of scripture each week and place it where you will see it every day

2 - read or think of the verse several times each day and ponder the meaning of its words and key phrases throughout the week

For shorter verses, we can memorize the whole thing.  For longer verses, we can memorize key phrases and where the scripture is found.  Why memorize scripture?  Elder Richard G. Scott, in Oct. 2011,  taught us:

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high.   Great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change." 

BIBLE DICTIONARY

LDS youth speaker, John Bytheway, once referred to the Topical Guide and Bible Dictionary in our scriptures as the "sealed portion" because so few of us ever use them in our studying.   Let's not let these great resources go unused!  The Bible Dictionary will give you a short synopsis of key people and places that are talked about in the scriptures.  Who was Matthew and why did he write what is now the first book in the New Testament?  Who was it written for and how is it different than the Gospels of Mark, Luke and John?  The Bible Dictionary tells us:

"Known before his conversion as Levi, son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). He was a tax gatherer at Capernaum, probably in the service of Herod Antipas, in whose tetrarchy Capernaum was. Soon after his call he gave a feast to his old associates (Matt. 9:9–13; Mark 2:14–17; Luke 5:27–32) at which the Lord was present, and was in consequence blamed by the Pharisees. Matthew was probably a thorough Jew with a wide knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures and able to see in every detail of the Lord’s life the fulfillment of prophecy. His Gospel (see Gospels) was written for the use of Jewish persons in Palestine and uses many quotations from the Old Testament. His chief object is to show that Jesus is the Messiah of whom the prophets spoke. He also emphasizes that Jesus is the King and Judge of men. His Gospel was probably written in Aramaic but is known to us by a Greek translation. Of the Apostle’s later life little is known for certain. A tradition asserts that he died a martyr’s death."

MUSIC

For those of you around my age who attended seminary in the 90's, you probably remember seminary videos with music that corresponded to the book of scripture that we studied.  Well, guess what?  That music is still around!  You can find the New Testament music here on lds.org.  My favorite is the Armor of God song.  When I hear it, I want to put on my armor and go to battle!  I love being inspired by music!  Here's the Armor of God video for your watching pleasure today.

These are just a few of the MANY resources that we have available to us to enhance our study of the scriptures.  Of course, everything we NEED to study is in our scriptures and in the new manual "Come Follow Me - For Individuals and Families". 

In May 2010, Elder D. Todd Christofferson offered us counsel and a promise.  He said:

 “Study the scriptures carefully, deliberately. Ponder and pray over them. Scriptures are revelation, and they will bring added revelation.”

And in Oct. 2009 Elder David A. Bednar promised us: 

“Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results”

I'm always up for added revelation and significant spiritual results!  How about you?  

Happy New Year and Happy Scripture Study!